​Patrick O'Day, Exeter School Board Candidate

Patrick O'Day

Age (as of Election Day)

58

Position sought (including ward or district number if applicable)

Exeter School Board for the town elementary schools and preschool. I am running for a three-year term.

Party Affiliation

I’m running as a nonpartisan representative of all Exeter community members.

Family

I have four kids. My two older daughters attended Exeter elementary schools and SAU 16 schools. My two young sons (ages 1 and 4) will enter Main Street School.

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

No

Education:

BA in philosophy/government, College of William & Mary
MA in education, Michigan State University
JD, Indiana University-Bloomington Maurer School of Law

Occupation:

Education law attorney

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office:

Exeter School Board, member (2006 to present), Exeter School Board, chair (2011 to 2021), New Hampshire Bar Association, board of governors (2013 to 2017), New Hampshire School Boards Association, board member (2005 to 2013), Dover Children’s Home, board member (2006 to 2012).

Campaign website:

www.oday4exeter.org

Why are you seeking elective office?

Like most families, I moved to Exeter because of the high quality of our schools. As an Exeter School Board member, I will work to maintain the excellence of our schools. I have a unique combination of academic skills having earned my Master’s in education (Michigan State) and studied in a PhD program in education (Indiana), and practical experience having worked as an education law attorney throughout New Hampshire. I understand how the law intersects with education to protect and support the needs of our kids and families. This helps me ask informed questions guided by putting kids first.

The single most pressing issue facing our (board, district, etc.) is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

We need a return to normalcy. The pandemic created unanticipated disruption and stress on our schools, our community and, most importantly, our kids. We need to safely move to the endemic phase of the virus guided by science and evidence including information about the impact on kids’ mental health and academics. We need to allow kids to be kids while safeguarding vulnerable families. It’s a balance that will require thoughtful action.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

I have 16 years of practical experience serving on the Exeter School Board. For 10 years, I served as Chair of the Exeter School Board. During my years of public service on the Board, I have collaborated with teachers, staff and community members on countless school initiatives, including full-day kindergarten, negotiations, academics, policy, strategic planning, budgeting, safety and security, diversity, technology, and wellness. These experiences provide a wealth of practical knowledge that helps me contribute to our Board discussions in making sound decisions.

If you are a challenger, in what way has the current board or officeholder failed the community (or district or constituency)

I am the only incumbent among the five candidates running for a three-year seat on the Exeter School Board. Nevertheless, I want to answer this question because I value the need to be reflective about how we can improve. With the sudden onset of the pandemic two years ago, our Board sometimes failed to make all parents feel genuinely heard. With the suspension of in-person Board meetings for a year, parents lost a mechanism to provide feedback in their own voice by speaking directly to the Board. Online chat functions via Zoom created an artificial barrier to navigate. While I consider myself to be a good listener, our Board needs to do better. Our primary constituency within our community is parents of our elementary and preschool kids. I will work hard to make sure that all parents feel heard.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform.

We need to address academic deficits. Remote learning resulted in learning loss for many. Our schools evaluated each student using nationally normed, valid and reliable testing. The Exeter School Board created two new teaching positions in math and reading to address learning needs. We have amazing teachers in Exeter who engage our students! We need to closely monitor academic progress of each student so that no child is left behind.

We need to put kids first in every decision. Our Board collaborated with teachers and community members to identify and remove roadblocks to educational access and inclusion. However, this work takes vigilance and ongoing effort. Issues facing kids range from food security to emotional health, to why girls tend not to raise their hands in class starting in middle school. As a Board member, I strive to be mindful that all kids within our diverse community deserve to have their educational needs fully met.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

I’m very proud of our school committee work on creating a full-day kindergarten program and building in Exeter. I served as the Board representative on that project. We identified a need for full-day kindergarten by monitoring the academic progress of our elementary students. Our committee studied academic research, interviewed other schools that switched from half-day to full-day kindergarten, and created an age-appropriate curriculum that included play time. We surveyed parents three times over the course of several years to learn the level of parent support for transitioning to full-day kindergarten, and only moved forward once parent support was strong. We raised a $5.4 million bond to fund a new kindergarten building that Exeter voters passed while three other similar bond proposals in nearby towns failed. It was a collaborative initiative that involved key stakeholders. I continue to value listening to and involving parents,
teachers, community members and others when taking Board action.

The best advice ever shared with me was:
I love this piece of advice from Benjamin Franklin, “I am a strong believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.”

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

I have had several transformative international experiences. I lived in Luxembourg while attending a French-speaking high school. I worked in West Africa as an interpreter on a gold expedition. I lectured in Kazakhstan about education via a State Department project. These experiences took me out of my comfort zone and challenged many core assumptions. As a result, I developed a lifelong appreciation of diverse perspectives.